Martinsburg gazette. (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1886-1887, 1887-01-28
A COCAINE SPREE.
ASTONISHING EXPERIMENTS
WITH THE DRUG.
There Isn't any Cocaine Habit, q
Doctor Says. but Very Power
ful Cocaine Exhilaration-
Describing His Feelings.

E1-CuISeOu-S 6ucIdL ". a. haiiLihOHuJ
of New York, has been on terrific
spree for science. Is there cocaine
habit2 Dr. Hammond SAYS there is not,
and that he knows it because he has
experimental upon himself for the ex-
press purpose Of finding out The local
m psthetic properties Of cocaine have
been known but short time, and It has
been charged that the use Of the drug
induces 4 habit similar to the opium
habit, which holds its victims in AFFECT
slavery.
AT first injected one grain, and ex-
perienced an cxhilnration of spirits sim
lar to that produced by two Or three
glasses Of champagne, said DR.. Ham
moad to Sun reporter. My powers
of Imagination increased. The physical
sensation was delightful, undulating
thrill. / WAS N q very hlppy frame OF
mind--a sociabse mood-and no doubt
would have been quite agreeable COM
pany The aFter effects were inability
to sleep until in the morning, and
headache When Igot mp. The
next night / took two grains, and. in adj
dltion to the sen atoms described, felt
a desire to write. had begun letter
TO d friend, and under the influence Of
the drug / extended what would have
been missive of moderate leagth to an
cpistle covering wide variety of top.
les and forty-eight pages of paper. 1t
proved to be correctly written and CO.
herent, and gave much satisfaction to
the receiver, but found that had
treated diffusely Of many things that
ordinarily / would not deem worth
mentioning. If man were DESTROYS of
writing to fill space, or utterly exhaust
Ing q given sub ect even to the most
trivial details, would recommend him
to fill his inkstaud, get ream or two of
paper and plenty OF pens, and have
physician give him q hypodermic injec-
tion of cocaine. If you want to condense
your subject, don't take cocaine in large
doses. No doubt a moderate quantity
taken in wine will stimulate the magma
tion and enable one to write more brill \
iantly and with less effort than he o.. her
wise could. The difference between
cocaine and alcohol as stimulants is that
alcohol has tendency to lower the men
tai and moral tone and brutal the ma
ture, while cocaine has refining, soften
ing effect. Under the influence Of mod
crate doses / became rather sentimental
and said nice things to everybody. The
world was going very well, and had
favorable opinion of my fellow men and
women. There was not bit of pug
nacity about me, and / didn't want to
fight, argue or dispute with any one.
The next time Increased the dose to
three grains, which unlimbered my
tongue in the most astonishing way. &
wanted to talk, and / did talk, not in
the oFatorical manner, but ] was just
purely loluacious When nobody was
present talked to myself. There was no
disarrangemento of the mental faculties.
no disorder of the process of thought.
talked cohe-ently and correctly, and /
am certain that If had been in the lee
ture loom should have sp ken much
better than / usually speak, was per
fectly able to restrain the impulse to
talk, but it was pleasant to speak, and
enjoyed myself highly. Thare was an
abnormal quickening of the facu ties;
the minds operations were rapid, and
the imagination vivid Headache fol
lowed.
Then doubled the quantity of the
cocaine, and beanie somewhat intoxi-
Gated. The scribbling propensity re-
turned, and wrote voluminously. /
Was preparing medical work, and my
mind was full of the subject matter.
What wrote was an introduction to the
book, and thought it a very brilliant
production. Ideas came thick and fast,
and was persuaded that my compost
tion work was going to eclipse anything
that had ever done in that line. When
put it away and went to bed, / con-
graduated myself that should be sat
ished with my nights work when
ehntlId rand Fl oyer didn,t olnn,, nf